i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)
by Lady StarFlower
Summary: The wyvern focused, pushing her senses to focus on that one trail, on those two specific scents that were so like her golden human's. Or; Claude's daughters go missing and it's up to his trusty wyvern to track them down. Background Claude/Byleth. Takes place after the Golden Deer Route.


The beautiful bone-white wyvern was having a good sun day. In the craggy cradle of the mountain, the great fire in the sky couldn't always touch the rocks where she and her fellow den mates napped. But today, the rocks were warmed by the hot afternoon rays, and it felt _wonderful_ on her belly and on her wings.

She stretched out deliciously in the sun, growling with contentment. The other wyverns snarled at her, as if to chide her for taking up all the sun place, but the large female snapped lazily at them. No one dared to disturb her beauty rest.

_Shreeeeee….!_

All three of the wyvern's eyelids flew open with alarm. Her sun human's call of swiftness! Her laughing shooter of sticks! He needs her!

Her wings unfurled with a heavy snapping sound, like leather being beaten with a whip. The wind caught them and, after sensing the next updraft, she launched her powerful lithe body into the air with a roar, to answer her human's desperate whistle.

_Shreee…eee…eeee!_

The whistle rang in her ears as the wyvern peered down at the speckled green of the flat earth. There, she could see the tiniest speckle of yellow and teal against a white expanse of smoothened marble. Warbling, the wyvern curled herself together and spiraled down to her humans with excruciating speed.

The dive was exhilarating. Stretching out her talons for the landing, the bone-white wyvern landed with a triumphant growl, prowling forward to greet her human.

The human male stretched out his hand to her snout, and the wyvern was alarmed to see it tremble. She gave him a deep sniff.

His scent was rank with fear and worry, of loss and anger. The human female by his side, the teal woman who she had once deigned to let ride on her back because she was her human's mate, smelled of fear and worry as well.

They lost something important to them! And they needed her to help them!

Her human said something to her, his voice low and tight. She could hear the worry shaking his throat, the way it choked up his body and darkened his eyes. She didn't like this look on him. It made her sad.

He held a soft, brightly colored cloth out to her. The wyvern sniffed it. She recognized this scent!

The cloth smelled sweet, like flowers. It smelled like human purrs, like warmth burrowed deep inside your heart, which is called love. It smelled of wild innocence and teasing starlight, and suddenly the wyvern understood what her human had lost.

He had lost his hatchlings. His brood. His flesh and bone. He wanted her to help find them.

She had met them, once. They were tiny, bumbling little things, making odd little cries with their mouths. They walked, if that were even the word, with tiny faltering steps, and had eyes far too big to be of any use when hunting that gazed at her with shameless awe.

But her human had looked at them with such fierce love that she knew that to him, they were utterly perfect.

The wyvern tried to convey her understanding. She growled low and soothingly, and her human's mouth curved upwards like a sideways crescent moon. He was happy that she understood.

His human lifted up her saddle. It was big, but light, and so she permitted it to be strapped on to her magnificent armored scales. He worked quicker than usual, tying knots and clasping buckles with a speed that made her fidget.

His urgency was contagious. The inner beast within her howled to find the human's lost hatchlings. If anyone had hurt them, then she would tear them apart with her own claws and rip out their innards.

But enough thought of bloodshed. Her human was already helping his mate to climb up on her back. She patted the wyvern's neck as mute thanks.

Her human scrambled up on after her. He looped the reins around her snout with respect, making sure they wouldn't pull at her horns or yank at her maw. She felt a sudden burst of affection for him.

He dug his heels into her sides, calling something out that sounded deadly, determined, and furious. She roared back in answer, and plunged her wings downwards to bring herself soaring into the sky.

The air patterns were strange this time of year. They twisted and turned, pulling those who strayed into their paths into a wild and frenetic dance that made one's blood sing. The wind smelled of a thousand scents, singing a thousand stories that all called for her attention.

But the wyvern focused, pushing her senses to focus on that one trail, on those two specific scents that were so like her human's. She tread air for a while, letting her nose guide her, and when she smelled it, pounced on that golden and teal colored scent.

The wyvern flew low over the land, her wings nearly clipping the tops of some very tall human dens that jutted upwards like false mountains. The scents of the city grew muddled and confused, and she lost the scent a few times among the foul stench of smoke, labor, and of people.

But the constant weight of her human and his mate spurred her onwards, and she was determined not to let their trust in her fail.

Her path slowly brought her to a dark place that made both her human and his mate uneasy. It was not a good place. It was dirty, smelling of strange herbs that made her head whirl and the humans cough. It smelled of despair, of separated families, of evil arousal.

The wyvern landed gingerly on a particular human abode that was dark and draped with red lanterns and black signs to catch her breath.

Where did the scent go?

She heard the human's mate moan, a despairing sound that seemed to rattle her bones and worm into her stomachs. She felt more than heard her human's fury, the way his hands tightened on her reins.

If the hatchlings were here, they might not be treated as such anymore.

But the wyvern refused to believe that her human's hatchlings were here. The scent was faint, as if they had passed by. Hours old.

She pushed herself into the air again, drawing in the air through her nostrils with urgent hunger, her lungs expanding and shrinking with great rapidity. _Where are you, hatchlings?_

Wait! A new scent!

It was not unfamiliar…it was of the great water! The sea!

Energized, the wyvern let out a triumphant roar as she launched in the direction of the ocean. The humans' startled cry at her sudden speed did not stop her as she shot towards the docks, her delight growing in tandem with the strength of the hatchlings' scent…closer…closer…_closer_…!

The ocean came into view, vast, sparkling, and so, so big. The docks wrapped around the ocean with hundreds of tiny wooden arms, with bustling humans moving about briskly, casting nets and reeling them in. They all paused at the sight of her brilliant white wings, their little maws opening with awe.

Suddenly, the human gave a loud joyful cry. He pulled on the reins with a strength that made her jaws ache. But that didn't matter, for there they were, playing on the sand by the ocean! The human's hatchlings!  
The wyvern sped towards the ground. She unfurled her wings and let them guide herself safely down. To her alarm, she felt the human's mate already scrambling off her back, almost falling the last of the distance as she landed with a loud thump, spraying sand.

The hatchlings looked up and shrieked with happiness. They abandoned their curious little mountains of sand and ocean scales and ran towards their sire and dam.

Her human slid off her back just in time to catch them in his arms, clutching them so tight the wyvern was almost concerned for their tiny fragile bodies. He was rocking back and forth, sobbing soft and tender things as they clutched at him and crooned.

The wyvern settled herself in the sand as the human's mate embraced her hatchlings with equal fervor. Both of their scents reeked of relief, of love. They smelled of melting snow, of the sun coming out of the clouds, of release and deep, all consuming happiness.

Their emotions settled slowly. As the sun began its descent, the wyvern listened to their human bickering, of frantic questions and of innocent answers. It seemed that the little hatchlings just wanted to explore the city on their own. What brave little creatures!

The humans seemed to think otherwise. After an impressive show of scolding dominance from the human's mate, the hatchlings hung their heads and mumbled a promise. But her human laughed, a welcome sound that drove away all the cobwebs of old fear, and he scooped them up into his arms.

He gestured at the wyvern as he said something to them with great solemnity. She shook out her wings proudly. He was telling them about her. That was another thing she loved about her human. He knew where to give credit where credit was due!

The little hatchlings made awed little noises. One of them, the firstborn, reached out her little hand, and the wyvern deigned to let her pat her on the snout. The younger, after some gentle encouragement from her sire, followed suit with a very timid and ginger pat of her own.

The wyvern felt affection swell in her breast. She was proud of these little hatchlings, and she was proud of her humans. They trusted her to find their hatchlings, and now her faith and motivation for her human has doubled in size.

Her human said something then, in a tired but deeply affectionate tone. The wyvern knew this phrase, for he had said it before, after the time of battle and bloodshed.

"_Let's go home. We've earned the rest_."

And, as always, she was more than happy to oblige.


End file.
